Washington Blvd repaving thru Westover

[Henry]

Sharing info from the County. Will update as I get new info. Henry

Project Background: Washington Boulevard Repave at Westover (N McKinley Rd to N Longfellow Street).

As part of routine repaving in the summer of 2019, The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will be repaving the segment of Washington Boulevard between North McKinley Road and North Frederick Street.

As part of the repave, VDOT will remove the brick paver median and the brick paver crosswalks at Westover (between North McKinley Road and North Longfellow Street). Brick pavers at crosswalks and in medians are currently being phased out in Arlington County because the materials are costly to repair and require frequent maintenance.

To use the space currently occupied by the brick pavers in the median, the County is considering several restriping options, including high visibility crosswalks, bike treatments, and a limited change option. The goal is to provide better access to the Westover Library, Post Office and retail areas.

We have a few ways for people to get involved:
• A drop-in style open house to learn more, review restriping options, talk with staff and share feedback on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019 in the Longfellow Room at Westover Library from 6:00 – 7:30pm.
• An online feedback form, which will go live after the Open House on Wednesday, February 27 and be open until March 31. Link to be shared when it goes live.
• Potential Westover Farmer’s Market to have a pop-up opportunity to meet people in the community that might not be able to attend the Open House. Details to come as they are finalized with the Farmer’s Market.

Topic

[lordofthemark]

@sjclaeys 188022 wrote:

Uh, just to clarify things, that is not at all the area under discussion.

see

In the future the cycle track could be further extended east/west,

I will try to avoid commenting on the Westover dystopia again. I just wanted to point out that a solution to the street crossing problem that envisions extending a two way cycle further east and west in the future, has to deal with the constraints east and west. I am less interested in Westover than in precedent for other areas both in Arlington and elsewhere.

[sjclaeys]

@lordofthemark 188027 wrote:

see

In the future the cycle track could be further extended east/west,

I will try to avoid commenting on the Westover dystopia again. I just wanted to point out that a solution to the street crossing problem that envisions extending a two way cycle further east and west in the future, has to deal with the constraints east and west. I am less interested in Westover than in precedent for other areas both in Arlington and elsewhere.

A beer garden, hardware store that has everything, barber shop, fair trade store, Italian Store, Lost Dog, Thai Noy, Lebanese Taverna and a library in one block is hardly a dystopia.

[Boomer Cycles]

Update on Trail impacts from Transforming I-66 both Outside & Inside the Beltway.

Reposting from another thread but also of interest to this thread: http://www.washingtonareabikeforum.com/showthread.php?p=188049

Sent from my VS501 using Tapatalk

[lordofthemark]

@sjclaeys 188030 wrote:

A beer garden, hardware store that has everything, barber shop, fair trade store, Italian Store, Lost Dog, Thai Noy, Lebanese Taverna and a library in one block is hardly a dystopia.

The notion that a place with a lot of upper middle class focused businesses is ipso facto wonderful is part of the dystopian character of the present phase of history. Also nuanced semi sarcasm (I am well aware of the real estate market and what places are in fashion I had hoped it was clear my dystopia snark was about the complete streets dispute, about which I wish to speak no more) does not work on the net. As Abe Lincoln once said. I think he was speaking with Audrey Clement at the time.

[ShawnoftheDread]

There’s stiff competition, but “upper middle class businesses with street parking equals dystopian” on a single small block in a nice neighborhood might be the most ridiculous thing I’ve read on the forum in seven years.

[lordofthemark]

@ShawnoftheDread 188064 wrote:

There’s stiff competition, but “upper middle class businesses with street parking equals dystopian” on a single small block in a nice neighborhood might be the most ridiculous thing I’ve read on the forum in seven years.

One might almost think that was a hint that it was a tongue in cheek jibe. I certainly won’t turn down a chance to have a beer at the Westover Beer Garden out of fear of the roving street gangs and rabid lost dogs in the area. Are they still fighting about the noise there?

[Steve O]

@sjclaeys 188030 wrote:

A beer garden, hardware store that has everything, barber shop, fair trade store, Italian Store, Lost Dog, Thai Noy, Lebanese Taverna and a library in one block is hardly a dystopia.

Also a Post Office, a cleaners, a dubious Chinese takeout, a proprietor of vintage LPs, an artisanal bakery, an eclectic consignment store, an excellent local ice cream shop (owned by a close friend of drevil) and a shady tavern for local drunkards.

[accordioneur]

@lordofthemark 188068 wrote:

One might almost think that was a hint that it was a tongue in cheek jibe. I certainly won’t turn down a chance to have a beer at the Westover Beer Garden out of fear of the roving street gangs and rabid lost dogs in the area. Are they still fighting about the noise there?

Yes, Lost Dog is in the area, but it’s not rabid

One of the nice things about Westover is that it’s not strictly an “upper middle class” enclave. There are a large number of more affordable garden apartment rentals around Westover, and the mix of businesses – barbershop, drug store, hardware store, library, bank, bars, etc. – serves the entire community. I would suggest that self-loathing upper middle classers and Arlington haters might want to restrict themselves to the workers’ paradises of their own communities – proletarian utopias such as Old Town and Del Ray come to mind.

[sjclaeys]

@accordioneur 188078 wrote:

Yes, Lost Dog is in the area, but it’s not rabid

One of the nice things about Westover is that it’s not strictly an “upper middle class” enclave. There are a large number of more affordable garden apartment rentals around Westover, and the mix of businesses – barbershop, drug store, hardware store, library, bank, bars, etc. – serves the entire community. I would suggest that self-loathing upper middle classers and Arlington haters might want to restrict themselves to the workers’ paradises of their own communities – proletarian utopias such as Old Town and Del Ray come to mind.

Where’s that “Elite” button?!

[zsionakides]

@dasgeh 187996 wrote:

It would be a ~3 block cycletrack. Would you cross the road to use it?

Checking the survey, it looks like VDOT is re-striping all the way east to N Frederick road, which is 11 blocks. I would recommend a 2-way cycle track the entire length on the south side, which would allow bike blvd connections to the Custis trail without having to cross Washington Blvd where there aren’t lights. Even a narrow cycle track (7-8ft wide) would be a big improvement over the door zone bike lanes that exist today.

[scoot]

@zsionakides 188083 wrote:

2-way cycle track the entire length on the south side

Such a facility would be more dangerous than the present configuration, especially for westbound riders on the downhills. Left-crossing drivers, eager to cut through the first gap in oncoming traffic, have enough difficulty yielding to pedestrians in those crosswalks. They will not look for bikes.

[DismalScientist]

@Steve O 188077 wrote:

… and a shady tavern for local drunkards.

I would hardly call the Westover Beer Garden shady… All my local drunkard friends are at the Beer Garden, not the Forest Inn, but I roll with the elite crowd.:rolleyes:

[Steve O]

@DismalScientist 188092 wrote:

I would hardly call the Westover Beer Garden shady…

It has trees.

(I was referring to the Forest Inn, though. Sorry if I insulted any of your friends.)

[zsionakides]

@scoot 188089 wrote:

Such a facility would be more dangerous than the present configuration, especially for westbound riders on the downhills. Left-crossing drivers, eager to cut through the first gap in oncoming traffic, have enough difficulty yielding to pedestrians in those crosswalks. They will not look for bikes.

Such a facility would have far more usage across a broader spectrum of riders than the current door zone bike lanes. If you look at the cycletracks in DC (e.g. Penn Ave, 15th St, or 1st NE), they have much better usage than comparable on-street bike lanes including amongst the general public.

Safety wise, cycletracks (and really all PBLs) are meant for slower riding than on-street riding and caution should be taken through any intersection. For higher speed riders, I would recommend they ride on the street with traffic. For the general public of non-high speed riders (the 8-88 years old crowd), getting a protected facility gives them a much better place to ride then on a sidewalk or in a road they aren’t comfortable riding in.

[dasgeh]

I love PBLs. I think we should have PBLs on all major streets in Arlington.

However, we shouldn’t build PBLs that have obstructed views of conflict points. Parking will obstruct views, so, in my opinion, PBLs that are beside parking are most appropriate on streets where there are few driveways.

On this stretch, the ideal would be to build one-way (i.e. one on each side) PBLs without parking where there are driveways. If you did a two-way cycletrack, on one side, I would want to see a parking pulled for a significant distance from each driveway, which would mean all parking removed for some of those blocked. That’s a heavy lift. Not that we shouldn’t propose it, but it’s a really heavy lift.

[Author]

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